Are you a polyglot? Would you like to become a polyglot? Mrs. J is a polyglot. Chuck is a polyglot. I think Jordan and Vanessa are well on their way to becoming polyglots too. It may sound like some sort of insect or disease but a polyglot is someone who has the ability to speak several languages. Who wouldn’t want to become a polyglot? If you could speak several languages, traveling in foreign countries would be much more enjoyable, as conversations which once sounded like mere babbling would make sense. Nor would you have to worry about inadvertently ordering chicken feet soup when you really wanted chicken noodle at your favourite Chinese restaurant.
Since there are over 5,000 languages in the world it would take quite a bit to become fluent in every one. Someone once said that this diversity of speech is a monument to human cleverness. In reality it’s a testament to human sinfulness. We’ll come to understand that as we compare Babel’s Babblers with Pentecost’s Polyglots. We’ll see how the ability to speak a foreign language on one hand was God’s judgment, as sin divided the united at Babel. On the other hand we’ll see that it was a testament of God’s grace, as the Spirit united the divided at Pentecost.
Let’s start our study in Babel. Babel was a city on the plain of Shinar, which is in present day Iraq. The people who built this city were close descendants of Noah and probably settled in Shinar just 100 years after Noah left the ark parked on Mr. Ararat. Although God had told Noah and his family to spread out and fill the world, when his descendants poured unto the plain of Shinar they decided to settle down right there. They not only challenged God’s command to spread out, but in an effort to show how great they were they decided to build a city with a soaring tower reaching the heavens. The people said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth” (v.4).
Now certainly there was nothing wrong with building a tower; it was their motivation for building it that was not God pleasing. That tower was not for defence, forest fire detection, offices, or condos. The sole purpose was to show off brain and brawn and to make the statement that they really didn’t need God. “Glory to man in the highest!” that’s what they were saying.
Do you see how Satan works? He doesn’t have to get us to bow down to an idol to disobey God. He’s perfectly happy if he can get us to hallow our names instead of God’s. He wants us to think that everything we have acquired is a tribute to our hard work and smarts, not God’s blessings. He wants us to put our trust in science thinking that it holds the answers to the problems of the world. But what a joke it is to think that science can unravel the mysteries of life and death. People of every generation have thought they were on the verge of cracking those mysteries but where are they now? They’re lying six feet under because technology can’t defeat death. What makes our generation so special to think that we are on the cutting edge of discovery and self-preservation?
We Christians aren’t immune to such conceited thoughts either; we’re just better at concealing them. When God crowns our work and our schooling with success it’s easy to look down on those who haven’t been so successful and think that we deserve our achievements because we’ve worked harder. Haven’t we thus failed to give credit to God when it was he who gave us faithful parents and mentors who instilled in us this work ethic? Wasn’t it he who gave us the good health to succeed as we did? Friends, God cannot stand being treated as a footnote in our life. He made us, and saved us. He deserves our very best - not just in our offerings but in the songs that we sing and the attention we give to the Scripture readings, prayers, and sermon during the service.
How does God react to rebellious people? King David once wrote, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them” (Psalm 2:4). Someone else once observed how “Man proposes but God disposes.” God did quell that rebellion at Babel but not as you and I might have. Moses wrote, “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other” (Gen. 11:5-7).
It’s interesting to note that the LORD came down to deal with the people of Babel. The “LORD” is a special name that emphasizes God’s love and patience. Instead of destroying everyone as he had done with the flood God chose simply to confuse their speech. Now that did cause chaos and it drove people apart but it also gave them time to think about what they had done. This section also reminds us how God does not act in an arbitrary way. He first collects all the data before he decides what course of action to take.
Thankfully, God still works that way in our lives. He deals with us on the basis of his patience and love, and before he acts he gathers all the data. Therefore when we feel as if we are getting a raw deal from God we need to think again. It is true that God will allow us to go through difficulties but his purpose is always to grab our attention and to bring us back to him. Had God not intervened in the lives of the citizens of Babel they would have ended up facing his justice and wrath forever. Therefore thank the LORD when he chooses to send your life into confusion. He does that so you’ll see straight by turning to him and focusing on his promises, not your own rebellious interests.
Although God did force the people to move apart it was their own sin that caused the united to become divided at Babel. Sin continues to drive us apart today doesn’t it? It causes us to say hurtful things, to refuse to admit that we are wrong, and to take advantage of others. When you think about it this world is really a horrible place in which to live! But God has provided a remedy to sin. While the people of Babel tried to unite heaven and earth with brick and mortar God has united the two through his Son, Jesus. More than that God has sent the Holy Sprit to bring us to faith in Jesus’ work of salvation.
Only the Holy Spirit can repair the sad confusion that sin has caused. He does that through the common language of the Gospel. He demonstrated that on the day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem. Some 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection the Holy Sprit visibly descended on the disciples in the form of tongues of fire and gave them the ability to speak in foreign languages they had never studied before. The disciples used their newfound ability to share God’s Word with the many pilgrims that were in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost. People from all over the world heard in their own language the wonderful works of God. Peter himself preached to the Jews convicting them of their sin of crucifying Jesus. He also went on to assure them that God had raised Jesus from the dead and that their sins had been forgiven. In a single day 3000 people came to faith including people who had once been enemies of the Church.
Today people from different languages, cultures, and various walks of life are still being drawn together by the Gospel. Only the Holy Sprit can bring something like that about. What else would move Japanese people to listen to American missionaries considering the history between those two nations? Or what would move you to call an American to serve you as your pastor? What brings us together to worship every Sunday? Our common likes and dislikes? Our political views? No, the thing that brings us together is the common knowledge of our sin, the common faith in our Saviour, and the common goal we have of sharing the Good News.
Of course that doesn’t mean that things will always go smoothly for us. You see we Christians still carry around something called the sinful nature. Therefore we all have the tendency to think that we are the most important people in the church or that our views are the ones that make the most sense. By nature we are suspicious of others, even fellow Christians! But it does not have to be that way, nor should it be. The Holy Spirit still unites the divided as he did at Pentecost. He does that by reminding us of Christ’s love. Therefore if you are at odds with someone go with God’s love to make amends with that person. Do that by first admitting your own wrongdoing and then seek God pleasing solutions to your differences. Ask your fellow Christians to help mediate solutions and to pray for you as you work out your differences. There is no place for bitterness or resentment in God’s Church.
Companies pay quite a bit these days for polyglots to work for them. That’s because they know the importance of employing people who can bridge cultural gaps and ford language barriers if they want their businesses to succeed on a global scale. But just because people can speak two or three languages doesn’t mean that they’re not prone to divisive babbling. The sinful nature lurks in each one of us urging us to put ourselves before God and others. Therefore if you are looking for a meaningful way to connect with others first learn to speak the bonding language of the Gospel. Speak as God speaks to you with words and deeds of patience and love. You’ll find out that the more you speak that language the less you and those you speak to will get caught up in worthless babbling. Amen.
